Emporia State is host for 2016 Kansas Shrine Bowl

March 28, 2014

The city with one of the strongest connections to the Kansas Shrine Bowl will host the 43rd annual all-star football game and surrounding festivities in 2016. Jones Field at Welch Stadium on the campus of Emporia State University will be the site for the 2016 Kansas Shrine Bowl that features 68 of the top high school senior football players in the state of Kansas.

This will be the fifth time Welch Stadium has hosted the Shrine Bowl since 1998, making it the most frequent site of the game in that time. In addition to the game the East Shrine Bowl All-Stars have held their training camp on the Emporia State campus since the mid 1980's.

The Shrine Bowl Weekend is made up of more than just the football game. There will be a pregame banquet for over 1,100 people on Friday night at the Memorial Union, along with a parade through downtown Emporia, a two-mile open run and a high school combine on Saturday.

The Kansas Masonic All-State High School Marching Band Camp will be also be held on the Emporia State campus this year. Annually, a total of 180 to 250 of Kansas’ best high school musicians are showcased in this event that is capped by the pre-game & halftime performance at the Shrine Bowl football game. The Band will also perform before the Shrine Bowl Banquet on Friday evening, and will lead the Shrine Bowl Parade down Commercial Street on Saturday morning.

The events are produced by the Kansas Shrine Bowl to bring attention to the state’s fine young talents, and to benefit Shriner's Hospitals for Children. SHC is a health care system of 22 hospitals dedicated to improving the lives of children by providing pediatric specialty care, innovative research, and outstanding teaching programs for medical professionals. Kansas children are treated in Shriner's Hospitals for Children regardless of the child’s race, religion, nationality, creed, or relationship to a Shriner. Children up to the age of 18 are eligible for care and receive all services in a family-centered environment, regardless of the patients' ability to pay. Through 2013, over $2.5 million have been donated by the Shrine Bowl for the care and treatment of Kansas kids.